Got the Thumbs UP!

Met the kids in Charleston, SC this weekend at our youngest son David’s house to transfer one of my old toys – the small boat to our son Doug who came down from the DC area to pick it up (sold the big boat in January). We had a great weekend and a super cookout Saturday evening. Liz and I decided to take this opportunity, while everyone was together, to tell them of our plans to buy the Newmar motorhome this Fall and if all goes well to sell the house next Spring. We didn’t know what kind of a reaction we would get as this move is really out of character for us. We normally follow the more “traditional” conservative approach to our undertakings, but this one is off the charts for us.

Well, fortunately everyone was excited about it although there was some surprise. I think Doug and David’s wife Renee suspected something. One of the first things out of Doug’s mouth when we told them was. “Are you going to sell the house?” After a few minutes of “I think that’s great” kind of stuff, the questions started coming. What are you going to do with all your stuff? Are you going to put everything in storage? Why don’t you rent the house? Where are you going to go first? Isn’t going to cost a lot to drive everyday and stay in campgrounds? How many people does the motorhome sleep? When you decide to stop RV’ing where will you live? We had answers to most of the questions, but we also said that we are still learning as we go and “winging it” a little bit so some things we just can’t answer yet. We told them that we will be going to the RV Dreams Rally in Sevierville, TN at the end of April and hope to get a lot of our questions answered. Finally, we told them than they need to lay claim to anything that they may want from the house. Some items will come with a price as we can’t give everything away, but there should be some good bargains and freebees.

Now that we have made that announcement, we are off to making more decisions and continuing with the arduous process of selling our accumulated stuff. I have already sold about $1500 worth of camera gear and probably have that much more to go. Pairing it down to two cameras and minimal accessories. Still have some studio lights and stands to go plus about a half dozen camera bags. Hard to believe all the gear I thought I needed over the years.